PREVIEW: STARS VS. MAPLE LEAFS
Looking to continue their winning ways and improve upon the best start in franchise history, Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars (12-3-0) return home to take on Mike Babcock's Toronto Maple Leafs (2-8-4) on Tuesday evening. Game time at the American Airlines Center is 7:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest Plus.
This the final of two meetings between the inter-conference clubs. On Nov. 2 in Toronto, the Maple Leafs upset the Stars by a 4-1 score.
The Stars enter this game coming off a 3-1-0 road trip, including a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday afternoon. After this game, the Winnipeg Jets come to town on Thursday. The Leafs, who took away a point from a 3-2 road shootout loss against the Washington Capitals on Saturday. On Thursday, the Leafs are in Tennessee to take on the Nashville Predators.
Stars Outlook
The Stars jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Detroit in the first period of Sunday's game and played from ahead the rest of the way to skate off with a 4-1 victory. The advantage held at one goal until Dallas tacked on two empty net goals late in the third period.
Patrick Sharp played through a minor injury suffered in Carolina on Friday and scored a power play goal for his sixth tally of the season. Valeri Nichushkin (first goal of the season) notched what proved to be the game-winner. Tyler Seguin (ninth) and Cody Eakin (shorthanded, fifth) added empty-net goals. Starting for the third consecutive game, Kari Lehtonen turned aside 21 of 22 shots to earn the victory.
The Stars need to be on guard against falling victim to a "trap game" scenario, which has happened twice to the team this season. The Stars were on the wrong end of a 6-2 blowout loss to the Florida Panthers when returning home from a 4-0 road trip in October. The Stars then rattled off three straight wins at home before seeming to be mentally unprepared to play the struggling Maple Leafs in the first game of the most recent four-game road trip. The result was the lone setback of the trip.
On the Dallas injury front, Antoine Roussel (upper body) has missed the last two games, but the agitating winger is likely to play on Tuesday. Patrick Eaves (lower body), Travis Moen (upper body) and Curtis McKenzie (hip) all remain on the injured reserve list.
Maple Leafs Outlook
The Maple Leafs may have struggled against most of the NHL but they've enjoyed good success against the Stars the last couple years. Including the win at Air Canada Centre earlier this month, Toronto has beaten Dallas in regulation three straight times. The Leafs swept the season series last year.
After beating the Stars on Nov. 2, the Leafs went 0-1-2 in a stretch of three games in four days. The team worked hard to earn a point from a regulation tie against Washington in the final game of that stretch, which was also the second half of back-to-back games and the team's fourth game in six nights.
However, the Leafs could not help but feel disappointed that they were less than one second away from beating the Capitals in regulation until Nicklas Bà¤ckström scored with 0.8 seconds left on the clock to force overtime. Daniel Winnik (second goal of the season) and James van Riemsdyk (power play, fifth of the year) scored in regulation for Toronto, while James Reimer turned back 29 of 31 shots in regulation and overtime.
Toronto has found it tough to score goals most of the season. The club enters Tuesday's game scoring an average of just 2.07 goals per game, ranking 28th among the NHL's 30 teams. The Maple Leafs have failed to score at least three goals in nine of the 14 games they've played to date, which has given goaltenders Jonathan Bernier and Reimer very little margin for error. However, the Leafs have scored on four of their last 15 power plays, so at least that aspect of the attack has been working of late.
Top pairing defenseman Dion Phaneuf is sick with the flu and did not practice on Monday. However, Phaneuf did make the trip to Dallas with the rest of the team and may be available for the game.
On the injury front, Bernier is considered day-to-day with a lower-body issue. Toronto forward Daniel Winnik (lower body) is doubtful. Longtime Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas (leg/groin) remains on injured reserve.